We gotta give it to ‘em: The Daily Cal has a pretty fine new rack–a few racks, actually. It seems that despite cutting the Wednesday issue of the paper due to the ubiquitous “financial issues,” they still managed to afford The Daily Cal recently acquired some snazzy new newspaper stands–for free as a result of an advertising partnership–albeit they have gigantic ads plastered on the sides advertising a company which appears to tutor students in how to add (OK, it’s really for LSAT prep classes, but you’d never know from the girl with the display hands telling us what 158 and 11 equals).

This seems to be the way of the future: Financial crisis? Just add more ads. In fact, With the recent $65.5 million cut to UC funding by our old friend Arnie, we at the Clog suggest making Barrows a gigantic billboard. Hey, desperate times … And covering it with an ad just might make it less of an eyesore, unless of course it’s advertising the United Colors of Benetton. read more »

You mourned the loss of the path between the Campanile and Memorial Glade during the reconstruction of Bancroft Library, you were perplexed by the various Campaign for Berkeley-related projects springing up around Dwinelle and Memorial Glade, you cringed at the recent mutilation of Sather Gate and now, desensitized to the ubiquitous alterations to campus, you may have failed to notice that yes indeed more campus construction is occurring, more highly trafficked pathways are being obstructed by fences, and a few ornamental porta-potties now decorate our campus.

We’re proponents of campus evolution, but at some point we have to ask will it ever end? Or at least, couldn’t they have waited until winter break or summer when we students could avoid the omnipresent fence blockage and hum of distant drilling? More pictures after the jump. read more »

It’s seen two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War, the Counterculture Revolution, the Free Speech Movement, the rise and mental breakdown of Britney Spears and now it will witness its own mutilation, er, restoration. Sather Gate is gettin’ pretty-ful for its 100th birthday, and at 98, we think it looked pretty damn fine for its age. But after reports of the gate “wobbling disturbingly” in 2007 when the UC Rally Committee tried to decorate it, the gate has been forced to join the legions of Hollywood celebrities who have chosen to turn to reconstructive surgery. read more »

The discerning sunbather will notice that Memorial Glade is no longer as it once was. Picket fences litter the grass. The ground is beginning to bald in some spots and turn to swamp in others. And then the Chancellor went and built hisself a humble domicile on top of it all, replete with crystal chandeliers and lavishly sculpted shrubbery. We’re pretty sure he threw some pretty sick parties in there, ones that none of us were invited to. Sulky face.

That’s all a long and convoluted way of saying that our favorite patch of jumbo lawn is getting rehauled by the university this semester. The restoration’s going to start hogging up space starting now, but the hardcore fences are expected to go up in November. Sound familiar? That’s because the university’s on something of a roll, what with the Sather Gate restoration getting underway this week as well. Bummer - we’re not sure where we’re going to go to chuck frisbees at Fido anymore.  Fie on construction!

Image Source: jasonunbound under Creative Commons
Turf restoration to close Memorial Glade [Berkeley News]

Sather Gate, the southern portal to maze-like buildings and soporific lectures, will be restored this school year in an effort to protect the campus icon. Don’t be afraid, younguns, she’ll be looking fresh and perky again in no time!

A $1.5 million restoration project will focus on the deteriorating areas of the gate. The schedule is as follows:

* Friday, Oct. 10: scaffolding erected around the gate, preparations to remove brass and steel metal work
* Thanksgiving: naked gate! Pillars and glass orbs will remain.
* Next spring: a triumphant and beautiful return

We fear the sight of a skeletal Sather Gate, but we guess we’ll just have to make do while the restoration team’s sprucing up our own bronze lady.

Image Source: Raymond Yee under Creative Commons
Iconic Sather Gate to be restored to its former majesty [NewsCenter]

 

 At around 7 p.m. tonight, we met a huge snake of people that stretched all the way across Upper Sproul Plaza and into the dark abyss beyond Sather Gate. The Clog was immediately intrigued. There was also enough alternative fashionistas in the line to make us think, “OK, Hot Topic must be having a sale.”But we were wrong. The punk-tastic queue actually began at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union–not Telegraph Avenue. When we asked someone what the heck was happening, they pointed at a poster that we’ve seen everywhere but have pretty much ignored. Apparently, the heavy metal stylings of …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead and the Gorillaz-esque animated group Dethklok joined forces tonight to put on a free concert in the Pauley Ballroom. (Thank you, Adult Swim.) We should have known!What can we say? The ad campaign’s dark, fiery poster aesthetic was an automatic turnoff for our cutesy, pop-loving minds. Additionally, both bands have a variation of “death” in their name–not cute. If it was still the Day of the Dead, maybe we’d be feelin’ it.We just hope that the bands left their Berkeley fans with a Trail of Good Times and that there wasn’t a huge Trail of People Who Got Turned Away At the Door After Pauley Ballroom Was Filled To Capacity. That always sucks.Dethklok [MySpace]Trail of Dead [MySpace]